On Fire

by Alicia Nordwell

  “You fall off a cliff or something?” Carter sounded more uncertain than joking.

  “Or something. I got hit in the head with a tree branch trying to escape the fire up there. Some firefighters saved me, but we got caught in the fire and we had to wait it out under those foil shelter things apparently. I was pretty out of it.”

  “Wow. That’s insane! Are you in the hospital? Did you get burned?”

  “Not bad, and they released me already. The headache and dizziness from the concussion is killing me, plus all my stuff burned up, even my car. The guy who saved me is in the hospital, and I wanted to do something for him, but I can’t drive or take the bus, and I don’t really want to call a cab. I was wondering if you’d want to pay me back for that one time I picked you up at the bar because you were too hammered to get home on your own.”

  “I was going to go out with this chick I met last weekend at the bar, but she had a clingy vibe, so I don’t mind blowing her off. What time?” Carter asked.

  “Well, I was hoping we could stop and get me a new cell phone, and I wanted to pick up some stuff for that guy before we go over there. He hurt his knee plus he has some serious burns on his hands. Another one of the guys on his team said he won’t be able to work with the crews for the rest of the season. Mr. Quintero had a laptop in his room, so I thought I’d get him a gift card so he could watch some shows since hospital TV sucks.” He spoke from experience, not that he could stay awake long enough to watch much.

  “Have you called HR yet? Maybe I can wiggle a little early release from Mr. Witers if they know you’re hurt.”

  “Not yet. They’re my next call.”

  “I’ll give it an hour then and see if I can’t get out of here by four.”

  “Thanks, Carter.”

  Carter made a disparaging sound. “I owe you, and you’d do it for me. Besides, you’re giving me an excuse not to have dinner with that woman.”

  Scottie’s next call to human resources went smoothly once he offered to e-mail over his discharge paperwork. He’d already scanned them into his computer when he checked his e-mail, so it took just a few minutes to send them and get the next week off.

  Even those few minutes staring at the screen were enough to make his head throb. Scottie slumped down on the couch, turning onto his side and pulling the blanket off the back. His feet stuck out, but he couldn’t be bothered to cover them as he closed his eyes for a nap.

  Chapter Six

  SCOTTIE JERKED, gasping as pain spiked in his temple when the staples pulled. He blinked, trying to figure out what woke him up, but then the door rattled as someone knocked. The numbers swam on the clock, but he could just make out the four. He’d slept a lot longer than he thought he would.

  “Coming.” Ugh, his throat was all gravelly again. He needed a big glass of water. Cold, cold water. Scottie unlocked the door and opened it. “Hey, Carter, come on in.”

  “Damn, you look awful.” Carter didn’t pull any punches.

  “Thanks.” Scottie flipped him off and then turned to the kitchen. He grabbed a glass and stuck some ice in it, then filled it with water. He let the water run as he drained half the glass and then refilled it. He took a few sips, then turned around. “Sorry, I fell asleep. I didn’t expect my nap to last so long.”

  “It’s fine, but I am not going to the mall with you looking like that. Chicks would be running in the other direction.”

  “Fine by me.” Scottie plunked the cup down on the counter.

  “Well not for me. Slob is not a good look for you. Go put on those jeans and one of those flannels you like. Even that would be better than sweats and smoke. Can you shower? I’ll wait.”

  “Okay, okay.” Scottie could use a shower anyway. He felt grimy in the places they didn’t wipe clean to check his wounds at the hospital, and the bed bath by the nurse wasn’t nearly enough. “Give me twenty minutes.”

  He tried to keep his dressings dry, but he had to change them anyway. The shower did help reduce some of his stress, and the pounding water on his shoulders felt good. Scottie changed his bandages, smoothing ointment over the wounds, and then got dressed. He didn’t feel like jeans, but he did have a clean pair of track pants and a polo that should placate Carter.

  “Good enough?” he asked. His hair was shaved around the wound by his temple, but he’d gingerly run a comb through the other half, spiking the front.

  “Well, I guess it just makes me look even better.” Carter grinned. “You sure you’re up to this?”

  “If I get dizzy, we can take a break. It’s not like we’re going to Washington Square.” Scottie tucked his wallet in his pocket, glad he’d been carrying it instead of leaving it in his camera bag when he was packing up. He might not be as vain as Carter, but he didn’t want to have his picture taken now for a license he couldn’t renew for three more years.

  Carter filled the silence with plans for his vacation—the resort apparently bordered a nude beach he planned to visit every day—and Scottie was able to relax. They parked near the side of the mall with the kiosk he needed to go to in order to replace his phone. Scottie gave Carter some money, and he went and got them drinks while he got all his information downloaded from the cloud. The hot tea was wonderful on the persistent scratchy throat plaguing Scottie when he tried to talk.

  “Hulu or Amazon?” he asked Carter, holding up two gift cards in the video store.

  “I don’t know. Did he have a laptop or tablet?”

  “Laptop.” Scottie frowned.

  “Well then he could be using either. Just pick one.”

  Scottie made a snap decision and took both up to the register. What was a hundred dollars compared to what Mr. Quintero had done for him?

  They grabbed some gyros for dinner and then headed out of the mall. Scottie was tired, and traffic was slow, so he dozed off on the way across the river. Carter woke him up when he pulled into the hospital parking lot. “You’re really out of it. Are you up to even making it to his room? Maybe I should come with you. Besides, anyone capable of getting you to go to this much effort must be pretty hot. I should check him out.”

  “Check him out? I don’t think so. You’re straight, remember?” And no way was he letting Carter anywhere near Mr. Quintero. The resulting insult fest would probably scorch the walls, and Scottie had played with fire more than enough lately.

  “I’m not a full-on zero on the Kinsey scale, but that’s not what I meant anyway. Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?”

  “No, it’s okay.” No one needed to be subjected to Mr. Quintero’s attitude if they didn’t have to be, even if Carter would probably enjoy the verbal sparring. “I appreciate you coming over tonight and running me around.”

  “Let me know if you need anything else or get bored. I’ll bring over some microbrews and we can watch movies or something.”

  “Okay.”

  Scottie stopped at the information desk just in case, but Mr. Quintero was still in the same room. He considered stopping in the gift shop to replace the small plastic shopping bag with a gift bag, but it was closed. It was later than he’d thought, but he had another hour before visiting hours ended.

  He didn’t hesitate outside the room this time before he knocked, and he went right in after Mr. Quintero replied.

  “What are you doing back here?” he asked.

  “Jax! Don’t be an asshole.” Simon sat in the chair near the bed, a fast food bag in front of him. There were wrappers in front of Jax.

  “I brought you something.” Scottie held up the bag.

  “I had dinner.”

  Simon snorted. “That doesn’t look like a to go bag. Which, by the way, I should get rid of before the nurses realize I’m feeding you real food instead of the hospital slop. I’ll see you tomorrow, man. Stop being such a dick. The kid doesn’t deserve it.”

  “With a smoothie, right? If I have to choke down rubbery eggs again to get my protein, I’m going to throw up.” Mr. Quintero pushed the wrappers to the side of the t
able over his bed with the fingertips poking out of the bandages on his hands.

  Simon rolled his eyes. “Fine, you big whiner. A smoothie it is. But be nice, because I’ll call the nurses and ask if you’ve been giving people a hard time. You never know what kind of powders I might have them put in your smoothie.” He turned to Scottie. “Don’t let his bad attitude get to you. He’s just bored.” He smashed the bag between his hands, casually hiding the logo, and walked out of the room.

  “Maybe I can help with that.” Scottie almost handed the bag over, but then he decided to just pull out the cards, so Mr. Quintero didn’t have to struggle to do it. “I wasn’t sure what streaming service you use, but I saw your laptop earlier. This way, if you’re following a series or something, you can buy some new episodes.”

  Mr. Quintero snorted. “I don’t stream anything because I watch TV like a normal person. I have no idea how to work that laptop. My sister sent it to me for my birthday last month. When Simon and Franklin—they’re both guys on my crew—went to get me some stuff from my apartment, they brought it along because the channels here suck.”

  “I know. There was nothing on when I was stuck upstairs. Look, I could set it up for you, Mr. Quintero. I mean, if you want me to,” Scottie said quickly. “Your hands probably make it hard to use the keyboard or mouse pad.”

  “It’s a touch screen.” Mr. Quintero stared at him. “Why are you offering to help me after I was rude to you?”

  “I figure you’re cranky because you’re hurting, and even though it’s not my fault, you helped me. Now I can help you, Mr. Quintero.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “It’s Jax, and what, are you some sort of computer geek?”

  Scottie smiled. “I’m exactly some kind of computer geek.”

  Jax raised one dark eyebrow. “You don’t really look like it. Where’s the glasses?”

  “Don’t need them. Twenty-twenty vision, which is great because taking pictures with a camera while wearing sunglasses is a pain in the ass. I couldn’t imagine wearing them full-time.” He waved a hand toward the laptop sitting on the table by the window. “Do you want me to help you set that up, then?”

  “Sure, I guess.” Jax’s tone wasn’t exactly eager, but he wasn’t snapping at Scottie anymore either.

  Scottie grabbed the laptop and sat down in the chair Simon had vacated. “So, exactly how computer illiterate are you?” he asked as he waited for it to boot up.

  “I can check my e-mail and browse the Internet, but that thing is running a newer version than I had before. I’ve been using a tablet for a while, so it’s confusing.”

  “Okay. Well, a few good things. I can change the settings to make it mimic a tablet instead. It also has voice operation. That should make it a lot easier for you until your hands are better. Do you want me to help you set those up?”

  “Yeah.”

  Scottie first went into the control panel. He changed a few settings and ran an update that needed to be done first. He tried to avoid staring at Jax while he was waiting for the computer to restart. Once it did, he logged into the hospital’s Wi-Fi again and then started the voice recognition program. Scottie stood up and carefully put the laptop down on the table. “Do you want me to put your head up more?”

  “Thanks.”

  Scottie pushed the button on the bed rail to lift the head of the bed up. “Say when.”

  “When.”

  Jax was more level with the table, and Scottie adjusted the screen so there wasn’t a glare on it from the overhead lights. “So you’ll have to read some passages so the program registers your voice patterns. I’ll hit the buttons, and you just read what’s on the screen.”

  Working together, they had the computer set up so Jax could get it to open the e-mail program and start the music app. Scottie’s headache returned with a vengeance, but he tried to hide it. “Do you have an Amazon account?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I have a couple of siblings back east, so I send their kids gifts. Easier than picking shit out myself. I got that two-day Prime membership so if I forget I can get stuff fast.”

  “Well, if you have Prime, you already have a lot of TV and movies you could be watching for free.”

  “I do?”

  “Yeah.” Scottie navigated to the app store and downloaded Amazon. “Do you want to log in?”

  A nurse chose right then to walk in. “Mr. Quintero, visiting hours are over. I’m afraid your friend will have to leave.”

  Scottie looked at the time display on the computer, surprised when it said it was already after nine. No wonder his head hurt so much. He’d spent over an hour and a half working on the computer. “Give me five more minutes? I’m getting him online so he won’t be bored.”

  The nurse smiled. “By all means, then. But you can’t stay too long. I’ll be back in ten minutes to take Mr. Quintero’s vitals and give him his next dose of pain medicine.”

  “Thanks,” Jax said.

  “Wow, you’re in a better mood already.” She chuckled as she walked out of the room.

  “Guess I wasn’t the only one you barked at today, huh?” Scottie said before he could consider how that might sound. After all, telling a guy you just met he was an asshole—even if he was—wasn’t the best way to avoid getting kicked out of his room.

  “Ahh, guess not.” Jax had the grace to look embarrassed. “Look, I’m sorry about that. It’s been a shitty few days, and I hate being hurt.”

  “I get it. Apology accepted.” Scottie wasn’t feeling the best either, which was probably why he’d sniped at Jax when he got the opportunity. “Log-in?”

  “It’s firemaster at live dot com and my password is firstclass oh-eight.” Scottie thought Jax would type it in himself, but if he was due for another dose of his pain meds, his hands probably hurt. He quickly typed in the log-in information, and then hit Enter.

  A short tutorial on how he could find the shows he had access to for free, and Scottie was done. He was nauseated, and there was a spike in place of the staples in the side of his head. He probably should’ve brought his prescription too. A wave of dizziness hit him when he bent down to get his bag, and he had to put a hand on the side of Jax’s bed.

  “Hey, are you okay?”

  Scottie took a few deep breaths in through his nose. “Yeah, sure. Just dizzy.”

  “You’re really pale too, and your pupils are dilated. I have first responder training, you know. You had a serious concussion. Shit. You probably shouldn’t be using a computer.”

  “I’m fine. It’s just a little dizzy spell.”

  “Time’s up.” Jax’s nurse came back in. She instantly skirted the bed and pressed her fingers against Scottie’s wrist. “Your pulse is too fast,” she said. “Sit down.”

  Scottie didn’t want to, but he didn’t want to fall over either. “Give me a minute, and I’ll be out of here.”

  “I don’t think so. You can’t drive with your hands shaking like that,” she said.

  “He was discharged earlier today. He had a head wound and a concussion.” Jax totally threw him under the bus. “Maybe his doctor let him go too soon?”

  “I’m fine. I just did some shopping and went out to dinner before I came over here. My nap was too long ago. I’ll go home, take a pain pill, and go to bed. Besides, I’m not driving. I was going to call a cab.” Scottie sat up straight, the headache still there but the dizziness gone. “See, I’m fine.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that.” The nurse bustled out and then came back in with a small cart with equipment on it, then proceeded to take his blood pressure, check his oxygen levels, and then checked his eyes. “Well, your blood pressure is a little high, like your pulse, but it’s not dangerous, and you’re still coherent. Do you have a spouse at home who can check on you?”

  “No, I’m not married, and I’m not dating anyone either. My friend Carter could come over. He dropped me off today, so I’m sure he won’t mind.” Scottie had no intention of calling Carter, but they didn’t need to know that.
He avoided looking at Jax, who had been silently watching the nurse assess him. “I just need to get home.” He stood up.

  “Why don’t you wait? I’ll call a ward aide to walk down to the first floor with you.” At least she said walk and didn’t try to order him a wheelchair. “Sit back down.”

  He complied, pretty sure by that point that he’d escape a lot faster if he didn’t argue. She left the room. “Sorry, she didn’t even give you your medicine yet.”

  Jax rolled his eyes. “I’m fine.”

  Scottie would’ve rolled his eyes back at him if he wasn’t sure the gesture would screw up his head worse. “You’ve got a huge brace on your leg, and your hands are burned. You can’t tell me it doesn’t hurt.” He’d almost forgotten the macho, gruff man he’d met that morning. Jax wasn’t exactly talkative or anything, but the asshole impression Scottie had walked out with earlier had changed.

  “I’ve had worse,” Jax said.

  “Seriously? And you’re still a firefighter?” Scottie hated pain. He’d been called a wimp enough through the years whenever he got injured that it didn’t even bother him anymore—as long as he was given enough drugs to counter whatever pain he was in.

  “Yes.” Jax didn’t say anything else, but he didn’t have to. His tone was absolutely firm and final. He was a firefighter, and Scottie didn’t need to understand why he’d endure being hurt repeatedly to get that it was more than just a job to Jax. Simon had it exactly right earlier.

  No wonder he was such an ass.

  Chapter Seven

  JAX WAS sore, but he didn’t call his nurse for the day. They’d be in eventually with his pain medicine, and besides, he didn’t really like taking it. Especially if he had to eat their bland food before they gave him the pills. Simon hadn’t been in to see him yet.

  “Knock, knock,” someone said outside the privacy curtain.